Some 50,000 were killed globally by someone they knew, the organization estimated.

That works out to 137 per day — nearly six every hour.

“While the vast majority of homicide victims are men, women continue to pay the highest price as a result of gender inequality, discrimination and negative stereotypes,” UNODC Executive Director Yury Fedotov said in a statement that accompanied the report. “They are also the most likely to be killed by intimate partners and family.”

The study was released to coincide with the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women.

Women in Africa and the Americas are most at risk of being killed by those they know, the data show.

While the global rate of female homicide victims is about 1.3 per 100,000, it’s 3.1 in Africa and 1.6 in the Americas. In Asia, it’s 0.9, and in Europe, the lowest reported, it’s 0.7.

Despite legislation enacted and programs developed to help curb violence against women by those closest to them, “tangible progress,” the organization said in its statement, “has not been made in recent years.”

The Colorado Bureau of Investigation via AP

From left, Bella Watts, Celeste Watts and Shanann Watts. Chris Watts has been arrested and accused of killing his pregnant wife and two daughters in Colorado.